GOP builds cash edge

New figures show state GOP has $5.4M in coffers for fight to regain control of Senate

By Jimmy Vielkind

Published 10:43 pm, Sunday, July 8, 2012

ALBANY — Senate Republicans have nearly $5.4 million in their campaign accounts ahead of the upcoming election cycle and have spent more than $1 million already in several competitive districts, a GOP source familiar with the campaign effort said.

The figures, which must be reported to the state Board of Elections next week, suggest Republicans will continue at least a 5-to-1 cash advantage over Democrats working to retake the chamber. Democrats would not say how much their filing would contain, but as of April had roughly $228,000 in cash split between their accounts, compared to $5.2 million for Republicans.

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Since the legislative session wrapped up last month, both parties have shifted focus to this year's electoral battles. Republicans now hold a 33-29 majority in the chamber and have set their sights on two seats now held by Democrats, one of whom is retiring, and a newly formed district stretching from Amsterdam to Kingston, just west and south of the Capital Region. The GOP is hoping Assemblyman George Amedore, R-Rotterdam, will parlay name recognition and personal wealth into a successful campaign against Cecilia Tkaczyk, president of the Duanesburg school board.

Democrats are planning a push in 11 districts around the state, and said a surge of Democratic voters prompted by the re-election campaign of Barack Obama. New York is a Democratic state, they say, and it's only a matter of time before the party recaptures the majority it last held between 2008 and 2010.

"The majority was lost by a combined 900 votes in two districts in 2010, a historic Republican year. Now that we're looking at a presidential election year, turnout will return to a normal Democratic advantage and the playing field for us is overwhelmingly on offense," said Sen. Mike Gianaris, a Queens Democrat who chairs his party's campaign committee.

But Republicans say their cash edge is indicative of other advantages. They say they've worked well in concert with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who has pushed fiscal restraint, and note that Cuomo has conspicuously refused to endorse his party mates bid to retake the chamber, or commit to campaigning on their behalf. Polls show Cuomo is viewed favorably by 70 percent of the state's voters, and his endorsement is widely sought. Last month, he held a fundraiser to help Democrats who control the state Assembly. (Cuomo's term runs to 2014.)

"Financially, we have a significant edge, and it has to do with the fact that people are pleased with the way we've ended dysfunction in Albany and worked with the governor to get things done," said Sen. Tom Libous, a Binghamton Republican who chairs the Senate Republican Campaign Committee.

The parties' messages are also well-honed. As Libous said, Republicans will yoke themselves to Cuomo as much as possible, even though he is not expected to officially aid them.

They'll also emphasize the passage of two timely budgets and the rollback of a payroll tax on some businesses in New York City's suburbs, approved last year along with the renewal of an expiring surcharge on millionaires.

Gianaris and Democrats say Republicans have blocked action on measures that would preserve women's health, ensure pay equity and safeguard against potentially negative affects from hydrofracking.

This election cycle, though, will be fought district by district. Democrats are mostly targeting Republican incumbents in the New York City suburbs, but also Sen. Marty Golden, R-Brooklyn.

In the 2008 elections, Gianaris said, low-priority candidates performed well in these districts, and well-funded, vigorous challengers may prove victorious against Golden, as well as against Long Island senators Ken LaValle, Owen Johnson, Kemp Hannon and Jack Martins.

Upstate, Gianaris said the DSCC is targeting the Rochester-area district represented by retiring Sen. Jim Alesi and is pushing Chuck Swanick, a former Erie County legislator, against freshman Sen. Mark Grisanti, a Buffalo Republican who won a close race in a heavily Democratic district.

Even after the GOP shifted its boundaries, it still contains two enrolled Democrats for every enrolled Republican. Swanick has won the backing of the Conservative Party, but Democrats in Erie County are pushing another candidate, attorney Mike Amodeo. If Amodeo wins the line in a primary, Grisanti could have an edge in a three-way race.

Libous touted New York City Councilman Eric Ulrich's effort to unseat Sen. Joe Addabbo, who represents a swath of Queens. Both Libous and Gianaris predicted contested races in the new 46th District, between Amedore and Tkaczyk, as well as the Westchester County seat left open by the retirement of Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer.

Assemblyman George Latimer, a Democrat and legislative veteran, faces Bob Cohen, a real estate developer who came close to unseating Oppenheimer in 2010.

Gianaris said Democrats always expected to be outraised when it comes to funds, but said the GOP has "no margin for error."